I Understand
by WishFlower
Summary: Draco plans to runaway with Hermione, but Narcissa shares a startling story of her youth that makes him changes his mind.


**A/N i have no idea what this is, its just random. But i still hope people like it! I don't own HP. **

"I'll be along in a second, love," Draco said complacently.

"Hurry darling, our train leaves in an hour!" Hermione said, quickly throwing some clothes into a suitcase.

Draco Malfoy had his head stuck in a fireplace, talking to the girl he loved. She was waiting in her flat for him to finish packing so they could runaway together. The green flames tickled the side of his face but it was worth it when she kneeled in front of the fireplace to kiss him.

"I'll be right there!" Draco said again, "I just have to grab a few more things and we can leave."

"I'll be waiting." She said with a smile. She waved goodbye to him, the engagement ring on her finger glittering in the sunlight.

He pulled out of the fire and shook his head. Whenever he only went halfway through floo, it made his ears ring.

He picked up a framed photograph of his parents when they were very young and his mother was pregnant with him. He turned to put it in his rucksack but froze when he saw his real life mother standing with her arms crossed in the doorway to his bedroom.

"Mother!" Draco cried in shock. "How..."

"What are you doing?" She hissed.

"I..." He faltered for a second then summed up his courage and said, "I'm leaving, mother. I've asked Hermione Granger to marry me and we're going to Paris."

Narcissa fell silent with shock for a second then whispered, "_Why?"_

"Because I love her mother." He said stiffly.

"When did this happen?" She said quietly.

"When I went back to do my seventh year over again. She did as well, without Potter or Weasley and we just... fell in love, I guess." He said softly.

"And you've been together all this time?" Narcissa whispered in shock. For, Draco was twenty now, and that was a long time to hide a relationship.

"Yes, no one knew about us." He said, half resentful. He didn't like hiding. But he knew this was the only way they could be together. "About a fortnight ago, I asked her to marry me. We decided to elope. To Paris."

"And you were going to leave? Without telling me?" Narcissa said, her voice thick with shock and hurt.

"Well, I did write a letter for you." Draco said, picking up an envelope he had been planning to leave behind. "I didn't say where I was going, just that I was running away to be married."

"How could you do this to me?" Narcissa asked tearfully. "You would really just leave me and your father?"

"I knew you would never understand." Draco said. "Ever since I was a boy, you've taught me that muggle-borns were scum. But I don't care who Hermione's parents were, I love her! And I knew you would just try and tear us apart."

"That's not true." Narcissa whispered. "I understand more than you think."

"What do you mean, mother?" Draco asked, frowning.

Narcissa took a deep, shuddering breath and sat on the corner of Draco's bed.

"When I was about your age," She murmured. "I loved someone."

"Father?" Draco questioned, even though he knew it wasn't his father his mother was speaking of.

"No," She said with a rueful half-smile. "He was the exact opposite of Lucius."

Draco waited for his mother to continue. He sat down at the chair next to his bed. His mother twisted his hands in her lap and continued to take deep breaths until she was ready to speak again.

"He was a muggle." She admitted in a voice so low, Draco could barely hear it. His mouth dropped open in shock. He mother loved a _muggle_?

Narcissa pulled a heart-shaped locket from underneath her robes and opened it to reveal a picture of her looking happier and more beautiful then Draco had ever seen her on the left and on the right was a plain man with soft brown hair that flopped in face and sparkling blue eyes that were alight with happiness.

"His name was Ben." She said sadly. "Ben Taylor."

"How did you meet a muggle, mother?" Draco asked, still in shock.

"I had gotten into a fight with my parents." She explained. "About sometime ridiculous and trivial, I can't even remember what. I ran off to Muggle London, even though I was forbidden to go there, I went because I didn't want to be around anyone. I sat in a cafe where he was a waiter. He started to speak to me. And so every day after that, I came back to that same cafe and we spoke the whole afternoon. Eventually we fell in love."

Narcissa was crying softly now. Draco handed her a handkerchief and she gently wiped her eyes.

"He asked me to marry him. I told him that my parents would never let me be with him. He was under the impression that my parents were very upper-class and wouldn't want their daughter with a man who was only a waiter. He didn't know I was a witch."

Draco was silent. He was shocked at this new light he saw his mother in. He would never have guessed her to love a muggle, even if it was a long time ago.

"I was all packed and ready to go." Narcissa cried. "I was about to meet him so we could go to America. We were going to New York, we were going to escape."

She was sobbing hard now. So hard, she wasn't even able to speak. Draco tentatively patted his mother on the back.

"But – but then," She said, taking huge, gulping breaths. "My sister, Andromeda told the family that she was in love with Ted Tonks, a muggleborn. She was disowned from the family. No one was permitted to speak to her. My parents screamed and threatened her. My aunt blasted her picture off of the family tapestry. They even tried to kill Ted Tonks, I think, at one point. But she left in the dead of the night with him, and I haven't seen her since."

Naricissa clutched Draco's hand and shakily wiped her eyes again.

"I was scared." She murmured. "Scared that the same thing would happen to me. I decided not to meet him. I didn't want to put him through anything like that. But at the last minute, I decided he deserved more than being stood-up. He would be wondering for the rest of his life where I was and why I didn't show up."

Narcissa'a lower lip was trembling and she was visibly shaking. But she squared her shoulders and continued.

"I went to meet him, outside the coffee shop he worked at." She said with thick tears rolling down her pale cheeks. "He was standing there with a small duffel bag by his feet and a loving smile on his face. Before he could say a word, I-I Obliviated him."

Her sobs overcame her. Narcissa hunched her shoulders and grasped her heart, as if her touch would calm the ache. She sobbed so much that she could barely speak.

"I didn't want him to remember me and feel pain. I knew I wouldn't see him again, and I loved him so much, I didn't want him to hurt. It was for the best." She whispered.

Draco was surprised and saddened by his mother's grief. He had never thought that there was someone else before his father; he had never guessed that such a cold woman could love so passionately.

"Every once in a while, I go to that old cafe," She murmured, "Just for the memories. And one time, I saw him walking down the street. He was holding hands with a pretty muggle woman. He was carrying a small child – a boy. I guess now, his son would be just a few years younger than you. He walked right past me without even looking at me. He didn't recognize me."

His mother's agony was evident in her voice. She had her arms wrapped around her chest, like she was trying to hold herself together. Draco sat next to his mother and put his arm around her bony shoulder. She cried against him.

"So then my mother married me off to Lucius." She muttered bitterly. "I guess she didn't want me following in Andromeda's footsteps. Of course by this time, Bellatrix was already married to Rodolphus."

She continued to sob and wail like a child. It was as if she had been holding in her grief for over twenty years and now she overflowing like a dam.

"Don't go, Draco!" She suddenly wailed. "Don't leave with Hermione! Stay here and get married!" her voice was pleading and anxious.

"I'll buy you your own mansion, I'll host the wedding here in our garden!" She said with imploring eyes. "Just don't leave forever."

"Oh, mother." He murmured.

"I can't stand it! I would die if I had to live without you too!" Narcissa said. "I don't hate Hermione, just please stay." She begged.

"I give you my blessing." She said, after a long silence. "I give you my blessing to marry Hermione."

"Thank you, mother." Draco said and kissed her forehead. He got up and got a handful of floo-powder. He tossed it into the fireplace and just as he was about to step in, he heard his mother's shocked cry.

"Where are you going?" She shouted.

"I'm going to get Hermione." He answered with a smile. "I'm bringing her back here. To be married."

He stepped into the flame and brought back a young woman with a broad smile and wildly curly hair. They were indeed married in the garden and bought their own mansion not far from Malfoy Manor. It was a bit smaller, but much brighter and happier inside. Narcissa smiles when she sees them together, because they are truly two halves of a whole. And even though sometimes people have rude comments to say about them, they ignore them because no senseless comment could be more important than their love. Narcissa often wishes that she could've been as brave as Draco and Hermione. Maybe then she could've gotten a happy ending as well.

**A/N thanks for reading, i really hope you guys liked it! And btw, its actually snowing where i am. In april! Oh well, thats Canada for you i guess. Pretty please review! :) **


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